UKSC/2021/0056
•
TAX
Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Appellant) v SSE Generation Ltd (Respondent)
Case summary
Case ID
UKSC/2021/0056
Parties
Appellant(s)
Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
Respondent(s)
SSE Generation Ltd
Issue
Whether SSE is entitled to claim capital allowances for the expenditure that it incurred in the construction of the Glendoe Hydro Electric Power Scheme (the Scheme). Specifically, whether some elements of the Scheme are properly described as tunnels or aqueducts and so excluded from s.22(1)(a) in Part 2 of the Capital Allowances Act 2001.
Facts
SSE claimed capital allowances on expenditure incurred when constructing the Scheme. HMRC disputed £227 million of SSE's claimed capital allowances for tax years 31 March 2006 to 31 March 2012 on the basis that certain of the assets did not give rise to allowable expenditure under the Capital Allowances Act 2001. SSE appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT). The FTT held that SSE was entitled to claim allowances for some of the disputed items but upheld HMRC's view on others. HMRC appealed to the Upper Tribunal (UT), who dismissed the appeal and allowed SSE's challenge to parts of the FTT's decision. As a result, the FTT remade the decision largely in SSE's favour. HMRC appealed to the Court of Appeal (CA). The CA allowed the appeal in relation to certain parts of the UT's decision on the basis that SSE had no permission to cross-appeal, but otherwise dismissed HMRC’s appeal. HMRC now appeals to the Supreme Court and SSE cross-appeal.
Date of issue
26 February 2021
Judgment appealed
Judgment details
Judgment date
17 May 2023
Neutral citation
[2023] UKSC 17
Judgment links
Judgment summary
17 May 2023
Appeal
Justices
Hearing dates
Start date
23 March 2023
End date
23 March 2023
Watch hearings
23 March 2023 - Morning session
All videos on this page are recorded and transmitted in line with the Court's terms of use. These can be found here.. Please Note: Every effort is being made to provide a satisfactory streaming service of the Supreme Court judgments and hearings. However, these services may be subject to technical issues or delay, in which case we will attempt to resolve them as soon as possible.
Change log
Last updated 16 April 2024